In this unique real estate environment, the personal finance site WalletHub chose to inspect markets across the nation using specified criteria. Although attributes like size and style are, no doubt, substantial factors when choosing a home, the desirability of a property also derives from the economy of its local market. In their new report, WalletHub utilizes 18 distinct measures to determine, overall, the best environments to buy a house in. Broken into three categories – large cities, midsize cities and small cities – 300 cities were under consideration. And of the 66 big cities in the list, Miami ranks at No. 58. Notably, Miami also ranked No. 2 for highest median days on the market.
The WalletHub methodology centered on the overall real estate market of each location as well as the affordability and economic environment. The real estate market (weighted more heavily) was determined by home value forecast, median home-price appreciation, share of seriously underwater mortgages, ratio of rent price to sale price, foreclosure rate, share of people delinquent on their mortgage debt, vacancy rate, share of young homes and building-permit activity. The affordability and economic environment (combined as one category) was determined by WalletHub’s own “States that are Recovering the Quickest from COVID-19” evaluation, housing affordability, maintenance affordability, population growth rate, job growth rate, unemployment rate, underemployment rate and median credit score.
Austin, TX took the No. 1 position among large cities, followed by Nashville, TN and Seattle, WA. Other Florida cities to make the large cities list were Jacksonville, at No. 21, and Tampa at No. 12. Miami Gardens and Miami Beach also appeared on the small cities list, at Nos. 83 and 184, respectively.
The state of Florida figured significantly into the top contenders. Pembroke Pines was noted among the top five cities with lowest foreclosure rates in the country, while Hialeah was among the top five cities with the highest median home-price appreciation. Check out a further illustration of the statistics here.